


The Perfect Gift

by sjhw_tolerance (mscorkill)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-21
Updated: 2012-04-21
Packaged: 2017-11-04 01:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mscorkill/pseuds/sjhw_tolerance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonas and Teal’c find the perfect Christmas gift for O’Neill but Sam’s not so sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Perfect Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the sj_everyday Secret Santa
> 
>  
> 
> For audrich; Merry Christmas!
> 
> Originally posted December 2007

THE PERFECT GIFT

“Sam!”

She heard the enthusiasm in Jonas’ voice as he slid to a stop in front of her work bench. She didn’t look up from the keyboard right away, instead quickly typing in a few more commands.

“We need your credit card number.”

That got her attention. The last time Jonas had needed her credit card number was to sign up for the fruit of the month club. She glanced at the fruit bowl full of pears on her desk and sighed softly; she was still getting deliveries every month because he didn’t have a street address. Looking up she saw Teal’c had joined Jonas, a suspicious smirk on his normally placid face while Jonas was grinning madly.

“Why?” Her tone was wary and she didn’t care if they knew it or not.

Jonas shoved one of those throw-away mail order catalogs that start to appear magically in mailboxes around the first of September in her face. “We need to order this!”

Taking the catalog from him, she studied the page he had it opened to; frowned and looked up at him. “You want a Disney three piece table set?”

He blinked in confusion and grabbed the catalog out of her hands, flipping a page. “No, we want this.”

She took the catalog back and smiled, no wonder Teal’c was smirking. A Fish Pen indeed…. “I thought you didn’t like fishing?” she said, looking up at Teal’c. “And,” she added, directing her attention to Jonas, “as far as I know, you’ve never had the pleasure.”

“Oh, it’s not for me or Teal’c. It’s for the Colonel.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Because?”

“Is it not the time of year for the celebration of the birth of one of your culture’s deities?”

“If you mean Christmas, than yes. It’s in…” she glanced at the calendar, shocked at the date. “Three weeks.” What had happened to November? Oh right, she remembered, the Colonel had been missing for most of it and all she had thought of was finding him.

“We don’t usually exchange Christmas gifts, Jonas.”

His face fell, but then he perked up. “It wouldn’t have to be a gift. We could just give it to him, its small enough he can carry it in his vest or even his backpack.” 

“I don’t know,” Sam said slowly. Even though she had yet to go fishing with him, she had the feeling that a fishing rod that collapsed down into the size of a fountain pen wasn’t exactly what the serious fisherman coveted.

“You read his report. Just think if he would have had this? Maybourne wouldn’t have needed to use explosives to catch fish.”

Sam looked at her two team mates, Jonas eager and so earnest, Teal’c solid and inscrutable. They had been pillars of strength during the time the Colonel was missing and she felt herself weakening. Besides, she thought wickedly, it would be so worth the look on O’Neill’s face when he opened the package and found this. “All right,” she agreed and was rewarded with an even brighter smile from Jonas and a satisfied twitch of Teal’c’s lips. 

“Are you sure we’ll get it in time?” she questioned, flipping through the pages until she got to the order page. “Good grief,” she exclaimed after reading the shipping charges. “I don’t know guys, if we want to have delivery in time for Christmas the shipping charges are more than the crazy thing costs!”

“Perhaps we will be able to find it locally,” Teal’c replied smoothly.

“Yeah,” Jonas agreed immediately. “I mean, an item like this is bound to be available almost everywhere.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the tone of Teal’c’s voice and the accompanying enthusiasm of Jonas’. She had the feeling she’d just been had…. “Okay,” she agreed. The reluctance in her voice didn’t seem to register with either of the co-conspirators, their triumph no doubt complete in the absence of any struggle on her part.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHRISTMAS EVE

The only thing keeping her sane in the chaos that was shopping on Christmas Eve was that with Teal’c taking point, there was always a clear path for her and Jonas to follow through the massive throng of people currently packed into Dick’s Sporting Goods. Never one to leave Christmas shopping to the last minute, it had somehow become the last minute between resumption of their mission schedule and a major malfunction in the dialing program that had kept her tied to the base for the past seventy-two hours. 

She was tired and she was finding it hard to muster up any Christmas spirit, in spite of the holiday music blaring out of the store’s speakers and the holiday decorations. It could also have been due to the fact that this was the seventh sporting goods type store that they’d visited since noon when Jonas and Teal’c had rolled up to her house in a motor pool humvee. Trying to find a place out of the main flow of traffic, she waited by a winter wonderland display of ice fishing and watched while Jonas carried on an animated conversation with a harried looking sales clerk. 

When Jonas and Teal’c made their way back to her location, Jonas’s normal smile was gone and Teal’c looked equally grim, Sam’s heart sank. If they had to go to one more store…never mind that she had been the one to nix the idea of ordering the damn fishing pen. 

“They do not have the required item.”

“The clerk suggested we try the Bass Pro store.”

Sam sighed. “Where’s that?”

“Denver.”

“Oh no,” she said. “I am not driving to Denver on Christmas Eve on some wild goose chase.”

“We do not seek geese.”

Sam closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten while “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” played annoyingly in the background. Opening them, she steeled herself against the hopeful look in both men’s faces. “Look, we’ll just have to give him a rain check on the fishing pen.” At their confused looks, she sighed. “A substitute present until we can get him the fishing pen.”

“It won’t be the same,” Jonas said mournfully.

“We should have ordered it online,” Teal’c pronounced calmly.

“I know and I’m sorry.” Was she ever sorry, especially since she was the one paying for that particular decision right now. “But it’s getting late, the stores will be closing soon and we have to pick the food up by six pm.”

To their credit, neither man argued with her, though the look on Jonas’ face made her feel like she had just kicked a puppy. “Look, we can still have a nice evening,” she said, weaving her way through the crowds to the front of the store. “The Colonel said he’d come over and we’ve rented those Christmas DVD’s.” She stopped then, her hand on the door, ignoring the annoyed looks of the shoppers who had to detour around them. “You did stop at the video store, didn’t you?”

“We have acquired the necessary DVD’s,” Teal’c replied silkily. It was all Sam could do to not roll her eyes then, a sulky Jaffa was not her idea of fun anytime of the year.

“Come on then,” she said, exiting the store and dodging a fresh crush of people on the search for a last minute Christmas gift. The cold air was welcome after the overheated atmosphere of the store and she glanced at her watch, increasing her pace when she saw it was later than she’d anticipated. They’d have just enough time to make it to the grocery store, providing they ever got out of the parking lot.

It was a tense drive across town; Teal’c looked stoic, sitting in the front seat and looking straight ahead. When she glanced in the rear view mirror, Jonas sat slumped in the seat, morosely looking out the window. The sun was already behind the mountains, twilight rapidly sinking into darkness, the sparkling Christmas lights and decorations a mocking reminder that they had failed in their mission to obtain, what Jonas had optimistically described, the perfect Christmas gift for the Colonel.

And to be honest, with this failure, she was having doubts now about the gift she had for him. She had been telling Jonas the truth when she said that the team never exchanged gifts, at least until this year. But when the guys had decided to break with tradition, she had decided that perhaps this was the year that she would break with tradition as well. It was risky and had had a huge potential for failure, but the pain and regret that had haunted her while the Colonel was stranded on that moon with Maybourne had strengthened her resolve to do something…and Christmas had seemed like the perfect opportunity, until now.

Finally reaching her neighborhood and the local grocery store where she had ordered a complete Christmas dinner for their team Christmas Eve gathering—something for which she was exceedingly thankful now, after spending the entire afternoon on their futile search for a Fish Pen. Not even bothering to look for a parking space close to the front of the store, she pulled into the first one she found on the far edge of the huge parking lot. 

“Here we are!” she said brightly. 

“Indeed.”

Sam sighed, opening the door and shivering at the gust of cold wind that blew down from the north. A flurry of snowflakes swirled around them during their silent trek through the busy parking lot. Realizing she had to do something before the mood sank any lower, Sam opened her purse and got her wallet when they reached the front of the grocery store, pulling out a couple of twenty dollar bills and handing them to Jonas. “Look Jonas, go over to that Kohl’s,” she said, indicating the popular store located at the far end of the shopping area, “and buy him some socks or gloves or something.”

Jonas nodded and smiled agreeably, but Sam could see the dejection in his posture as he walked away, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets and his shoulders hunched against the snow. She sighed again. “Come on, Teal’c.” The door the grocery store opened automatically when they stepped forward. “Let’s get this over with.”

Forty-five long minutes later, she and Teal’c finally emerged from the grocery store; Teal’c laden down with a huge box, while she had two over-sized shopping bags full of their holiday feast. The snow was coming down heavier and while the people and cars had thinned out considerably while they were in the store, there was still plenty of last-minute activity. “I wonder where Jonas—”

“Sam! Teal’c!!” Jonas skidded to a stop next to them, his cheeks glowing pink in the cold and his eyes sparkling. “I found it!” He held up a brightly colored holiday-themed shopping bag emblazoned with ‘Kohl’s’.

“A Fish Pen?” she asked somewhat stupidly, “at Kohl’s?”

“I know! Isn’t it amazing,” he said, falling into step with them as they headed towards her car. “I was looking for the men’s department and I turned a corner and there they were! It was like a miracle!”

“A Christmas miracle, indeed, Jonas Quinn.”

Sam smiled, starting to feel the Christmas spirit that had disappeared under the weight of the crowds and the disappointment of their earlier shopping failure start to resurface. It also gave her hope that maybe one Christmas miracle would beget another…. “Come on, guys,” she said cheerfully, walking as fast as the light layer of snow on the parking lot permitted, “the Colonel will be at my house at seven, we don’t want to keep him waiting!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thanks, guys,” O’Neill said, once the puzzled look on his face cleared. “This will come in handy.”

Sam smiled into her steaming mug of hot chocolate that was liberally laced with Baileys Irish Cream. They were lounging in her living room, all comfortably full of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing and pumpkin pie. It had turned out to be a good Christmas Eve after all. The look of confusion, followed by his somewhat bewildered smile on Jack’s face when he’d opened his present, had been all she could have hoped for. What was really scary though, was that now that he’d realized what it was, he really did seem pleased with his Fish Pen, though she really had to wonder how it could be described as ‘pocket’ sized when you needed the reel, while still small, was hardly pocket sized. Oh well, it wasn’t her problem and as long as he was happy….

Jack had opened the box and extended the rod, admiring his gift. Sam tensed slightly when his practice cast almost hit the Christmas tree, but then he collapsed it without doing any damage. “I can’t wait to try it out.” 

Jonas beamed and even Teal’c had a smile on his face. “I told you he’d like it,” Jonas said to no one in particular.

“You were indeed correct, Jonas Quinn.”

“Which reminds me, Jonas,” Jack said, taking a swallow of his spiked hot chocolate. “General Hammond wanted me to give this to you.” Sam watched curiously as Jack shifted, reaching for his wallet and opening it, he pulled out what looked suspiciously liked a credit card and handed it to Jonas. 

“General Hammond decided it was time for you to have your own,” Jack looked her direction and winked, “so you can quit borrowing everyone else’s.”

“Wow,” Jonas said, admiring the gold card. “I don’t know what to say. It’s like another Christmas miracle.”

Sam waited for the inevitable ‘indeed’ and couldn’t decide if she was disappointed or not when Teal’c merely smiled and said, “It is getting late, Jonas Quinn.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right,” Jonas agreed, almost a bit too readily, Sam thought. She waited for Jack to announce his departure, but if anything, he just settled a bit deeper into the armchair and took another drink of his hot chocolate. Relieved and perhaps just the tiniest bit alarmed—in spite of desire to have some time alone with him—Sam walked Teal’c and Jonas to the door, exchanging friendly hugs and Merry Christmas’ with the two men as they left.

It was still snowing outside, just enough to blanket everything with a soft cover of white and Sam smiled, taking the snow as a good omen, it was always nice to have a white Christmas. Making her way back to the living room, she detoured past the alcove where her desk sat and after a slight moment of hesitation, picked up the card she’d worried over for the past week. She and Jack were finally alone—and some place where they wouldn’t be interrupted—so she decided resolutely that it had to be now or never. 

Jack looked up when she came in, a pleased smile lighting his face. “This was nice,” he said. “Can’t think why we haven’t done this kind of thing before.”

They both knew why, but she didn’t say anything, merely smiled and handed him the card, saying, “Merry Christmas.”

He gave her a curious look, but took the crisp white envelope from her, his long fingers brushing against hers. “I didn’t get you anything,” he murmured, fiddling with the envelope almost nervously.

“That’s okay,” she said, sitting on the arm of his chair. She felt his momentary surprise, but then he seemed to relax, though he still continued the tap the edge of the envelope on his leg. “Go ahead,” she encouraged him, “open it.”

He slanted her a look, but thankfully didn’t make a comment. When he shifted to get his pocket knife out of his pocket, his arm brushed against her thigh and she felt a rush of warmth when he didn’t immediately move away. She chewed anxiously on her lip while he studied the front of the envelope where she’d written ‘Jack” instead of Colonel O’Neill. Still not saying anything, he neatly slit the envelope open, taking his time to fold the knife back up and slip it back into his pocket before finally taking the card out.

She had spent over an hour at the card shop, reading card after card, looking for just the right card for him, when she’d decided on this one. Her choice was risky…especially given that they had both decided not to take any risks. Sam could barely hear the soft Christmas music that had played in the background all evening above the beating of her heart while she watched Jack read the front of the card. After what seemed an eternity, he opened the card and read the sentiment on the inside. Still not saying a word, he closed the card, a slight smile tugging at his lips. When he carefully put the card back in the envelope, her anxiety burst through her fragile control.

“I’m sorry,” she stammered, preparing to slowly slip off the arm of the chair. “Just forget—Jack!” She yelped when he caught her around the waist and stopped her abrupt departure by pulling her into his lap. Her arms automatically went around his neck and she found herself gazing up at him, the indulgent look on his face simultaneously reassuring and exciting. 

“Do you really mean it?”

She smiled then and relaxed in his arms, feeling suddenly secure enough to lightly tease the short hairs at his nape. “That I’ll say yes the next time you ask me to go fishing? Yes,” she said, “I meant it.”

“And the other stuff? Did you mean that too?”

“Every word.”

Perhaps this was the Christmas for miracles and perfect gifts, because his eyes darkened and she saw her love reflected in their dark depths. He lowered his head and her eyes drifted shut at the promise implicit in his gaze; his lips brushing against hers as he murmured, “Merry Christmas, Sam.”

THE END 

 

_Author's Notes_

_What the card Sam gave Jack said (from Hallmark cards):  
"When I was little, I daydreamed about the sort of person I would love someday…  
I must be luckier than most people because my dreams really have come true…  
I love someone wonderful, someone who isn’t like anyone else in the world...   
I love you.   
Merry Christmas." _


End file.
